Bomb structure



E. E. NEAL.

BOMB STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY221918.

' Patented May 16, 1922..

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ELMER E. NEAL, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNEGTTCUT, ASSIG-NOR T0 MARLIN-ROCKWELL CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BOMB STRUCTURE.

Laiaeat.

Application filed July 22,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER E. NEAL, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Bomb Structure, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in drop bombs. Theimprovement is found in the means or arrangement for preventing. the accidental explosion of the bomb,.without the danger heretofore present of pre venting such explosion at the proper time and thus defeating the entire purpose of the bomb;

The improvement, as shown and described, is embodied in the Barlow heavy drop bomb. This is one preferred application in which it may perform its function to advantage. This Barlow type of bomb is fully described in the Barlow Patent No. 1,322,-

083, November 18, 1919, for aerial torpedo.

The invention will be fully disclosed and understood without any unnecessary description of the particular bomb to which, among others, it may be applied. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the annexed claims, and it is not intended to, limit the invention by the following detailed description, except as the claims and prior art require.

Fig. 1 is a conventional view of a drop bomb;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the bomb construction wherein my invention is embodied Figs. 3 and i are sectional. views on lines 3-3 and ie-l of Fig. 2.

The Barlow bomb has a shell 1 for the explosive, a stem 2 to which the. shell is joined, and a barrel 3 for holding a cartridge, as indicated. A firing pin holder L is carried at the end of barrel 3.. Thefiring pin 5 has a limited movement in the holder due to the enlarged end attachments.

A. shell cap nut 6 is screwed over the extended end of the stem 2 and receives the safety cap 7 which is in the position shown during the handling of the bomb priorto the time it is dropped.

In a bomb of the Barlow type designed particularly for airplane bombing, the bomb is released or dropped from a considerable Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Hilary 116, 1%22.

1918. Serial No. 245,987.

height. During the drop means, not necessary to describe here, are provided for extruding the barrel 3 so that it extends several feet beyond the shell. The safety cap 7 is, of course, removed before the bomb is released.

The extruded barrel carries'the cartridge mentioned while the striking plug 8- attached to the outer end of the firing pin 5 is the first part to hit the object. The pin 5 fires the cartridge, the bullet fires the bomb detonator, which at the time of flashing has been moved to position for firing the explo sive in shell 2, either directly or through a booster construction. The means for extruding the barrel, positioning the detonator and other arrangement for firing the bomb at a predetermined distance above the object, are known and found in Barlows bomb. For this reason, only the means for preventing the accidental explosion of the bomb without preventing such explosion when desired, to which this invention is directed, is shown and described in detail here.

lVhen the bomb is assembled for shipment or other handling, prior to the time of its release, it is extremely important toguard against accidental explosion. Many different safeguards have been designed for this purpose. One of the principal ones is to provide spacing means between the striking plug and the firing pin holder, whereby the firing pin 5 is positively held in retracted position and against any movement while in the stem 2. Heretofore, so far as I am aware, such spacing means have consisted in blocks held to position against spring pressure tending to force them out of position but prevented from doing so while their outer ends contacted with the interior of the hollow stem 2. When the barrel was extruded from the hollow stem 2, then the blocks were no longer held against movement and were supposedly thrown free of the barrel by the spring pressure acting between the barrel attachments (as the firing pin) and such blocks. in this prior construction, however, the danger is present, due to any failure of the springs to act or due to the time between the assembly of the bomb and its release for functioning, that such spacing blocks will stick in. place and not be thrown clear of the barrel as intended. In such an event, the spacing blocks will prevent or delay the desired instantaneous firing of the cartridge when the striking plug hits its object in falling. Even the minutest delay at this time is critical as it is all important for the cartridge bullet to fire the detonator when the extruded barrel is intact as designed for the purpose. At the time the striking plug lands, the bomb is falling at its maximum speed, and, unless the bullet at this instant flashes the bomb detonator, the object of exploding the bomb at a given distance above its object is defeated. The barrel 3 is, of course, wrecked in the fall, and, while the bullet may be fired in any event, it is quite obvious that the function of the bomb is defeated unless it is fired in that infinitesimal fraction of a second when the barrel is intact after the strikin plugs hits the object.

Therefore, the object of this invention is to insure the desired action of the firing pin at the time desired and as effectively safeguard against the movement of the firing pin at all other times when the bomb is assembled.

To accomplish this purpose, I have provided two radial slots 9 at the end of the firing pin holder 2, shown in Figs. 2 and 4:. These slots preferably increase in depth from the firing pin outwardly. The striking plug 8 is bent forwardly and preferably at about the same angle as the bottom of the slots 9. -In each of the slots and between the firing pin holder 4 and the striking plug 8, I locate two anti-friction balls, preferably of a size to space the striking plug 8 from the firing pin holder 4 its full distance and at the same time contact the interior of the stem 2. The sides of the slots 9 hold the balls from circumferential displacement.

lVith the preferred construction described, the operation is as follows. The safety cap 7 is removed. The bomb is taken intothe air and dropped. hiechanism known in the Barlow bomb forces the barrel 3 out of shell 2. In this action, the balls 10, having only point contact with the shell, lessen the frictional resistance over a considerable area. As soon as the balls 10 are free from shell 2, they will both drop out of their own weight for they only have point contact with the firing pin holder and the striking plug. Furthermore, the walls of each pocket in which the balls are held diverge to assist the exit. There is neither friction nor the action of a spring involved in the discard of the balls. I

The balls 10 in the arrangement shown under no possible conditions can prevent or retard the action of the firing pin 5 when the striking pin 8 hits. As long as the firing pin holder 4, and thus the balls, is retained in the stem, the firing pin 5 cannot function. Thus, the object of the invention is accomplished by the described structure.

Having described my invention in a preferred form, what I claim is- 1. In a bomb structure, safety means, comprising in combination, a firing pin, a striking plug, a firing pin holder, said striking plug and firing pin holder being relatively movable toward and from each other, and anti-friction balls located between the striking plug and firing pin holder to normally prevent movement of said striking plug and said firing pin holder toward each other when the bomb is assembled, all for the purpose described.

2. In a bomb structure, safety means, comprising in combination, a firing pin, a firing pin holder, a striking plug on the end of the firing pin, said firing pin being movable longitudinally in said firin pin holder, and anti-friction devices locatec in substantially V-shaped pockets between the striking plug and firing pin holder and normally acting to prevent movement of said firing pin. 7

3. In a bomb structure, a safety means, comprising in combination, a firing pin having enlarged ends, the outer one of which is a striking plug, a firing pin holder in which the firing pin is adapted to move axially a distance limited by its enlarged ends, antifriction balls located between the striking plug and the firing pin holder, the firing pin holder being provided with slots to retain the anti-friction balls against circumferential displacement, all designed to pre vent the action of the firing pin when the bomb is in assembled condition.

4. In a bomb structure, a safety means, comprising in combination, a firing pin, a firing pin holder, a striking plug on the outer end of the firing pin and anti-friction balls located between the striking plug and the firing pin holder with point contact which locates the balls in position to have their outermost points approximately in line with the outer surfaces of the firing pin holder.

5. In a bomb structure, a shell for holding the explosive charge, a hollow cylindrical stem arranged centrally of the shell, a barrel within said stem having on the end there of a firing pin holder, said barrel being adapted to slide outwardly from the stem,

a firing pin arranged for limited movement in the firing pin holder, a striking plug on the end of the firing pin and anti-friction balls located between the striking plug and the firing pin holder to prevent the action of the firing pin when the latter is inside the stem, said balls being of a size to have point contact with the striking plug, the firing pin holder and the interior of the stem.

6. In a bomb structure, the combination of a shell to hold the explosive charge, a hollow stem arranged centrally of the shell, a barrel slidably mounted in the stem to receive a cartridge for firing a detonator, a 130 firing pin holder on the end of the barrel arranged to contact the interior surface of the stem, a firing pin therein having enlarge-d ends to limit its movement, radial slots in the outer ends of the firing pin holder increasing in depth from the center outwardly, said striking plug having surfaces sloping forwardly and outwardly, anti-friction balls located for point contact in said slots against the sloping surfaces of said striking plug and the interior of said stem, all for the purpose described.

7. In a bomb structure, safety means, comprising in combination, a firing pin, a striking plug, a firing pin holder, and anti-friction balls, said striking plug and firing pin holder having surfaces arranged to locate ELMER E. NEAL Witness J. A. CLINTON. 

